Andreas W Schell, Günter Kewes, Tobias Hanke, Alfred Leitenstorfer, Rudolf Bratschitsch, Oliver Benson, and Thomas Aichele (2011)
Single defect centers in diamond nanocrystals as quantum probes for plasmonic nanostructures
Opt. Express, 19(8):7914-7920.
We present two applications of a single nitrogen vacancy center in a
nanodiamond as quantum probe for plasmonic nanostructures. Coupling to
the nanostructures is achieved in a highly controlled manner by picking
up a pre-characterized nanocrystal with an atomic force microscope and
placing it at the desired position. Local launching of single
excitations into a nanowire with a spatial control of few nanometers is
demonstrated. Further, a two dimensional map of the electromagnetic
environment of a plasmonic bowtie antenna was derived, resembling an
ultimate limit of fluorescence lifetime nanoscopy.